CU Buffs’ Shedeur Sanders is having a Tom Brady moment. Lamar Jackson’s is needed now.

Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) celebrates after defeating the TCU Horned Frogs 45-42 at Amon Carter Stadium on September 2, 2023 in Fort Worth. (Photo: Andy Cross/The Denver Post)

Eugene, Oregon. — If a cat has nine lives, the charming Shedeur Sanders has at least 18 more. That’s a good thing considering the amount of interest in the Pac-12 collection this fall.

“If he wants to continue to play at a high level, one of the things he needs to do is take off and run, and he started doing that against Colorado State,” said former Florida State quarterback and current ESPN analyst Jay Jesse Palmer said. Told me over the phone a few days ago.

“He’s not the most dynamic runner in the country at the quarterback position. But if you can get four or five yards, limit the distance on third down, protect yourself and get out of bounds, I think it’s going to be Saturday (Oregon State) ) key to the game, it’s a big key for him this season.”

The Ducks’ defensive line is, on average, 22 pounds heavier per man than Colorado State’s defensive line. Scheider is now better against Tom Brady than Tom Brady is against Tom Brady.But if you ask Palmer, in order to leave Otterson Stadium unscathed, does he need to flash at least one? small Lamar Jackson too?

“I’m not saying he needs to be Lamar Jackson and run all the time,” Palmer said while covering CU’s game against Oregon State on Saturday with Joe Tessitore and Katie George for ESPN. Bachelor’s duties. “His instinct is to crawl into the pocket to extend the throw. But when he can, if he can get four or five yards (on the run), that’s going to help the offense a lot. “

After three games, two of them against Power 5 defenses, you could describe the Sons of Prime with the kind of quiet, reverent tone usually reserved for Nikola Jokic and Kyle Makar. One. monster. Unique. Always three moves ahead.

Shedeur’s statistics from the non-conference dance card — 10 touchdown passes, one interception, an Xbox-esque 78.7% completion rate — were polished enough. But the numbers below will melt your cerebellum like caramel sauce.

On the third offense, Sanders Jr.’s pass success rate was 71.9% and his passer rating was 177.95. On third down and 10 or more, he was 12 of 14 (85.7 percent). In the fourth round, 2-for-2. In the fourth quarter, he made 22 of 26 shots (84.6%), had 3 touchdowns, zero interceptions, and an efficiency of 253.22. The tighter you press him, the greater the reward. With 2:06 left on Folsom Field, the Rammies locked him in at the CU 2, leading by eight without Travis Hunter and challenging him to give it his all. After seven games without a third down, the kid had his own shot at the highlight reel.

“This guy keeps getting hit, but he stays in the pocket, he keeps his eyes downfield, and he plays his best football in the most critical moments of the game,” Palmer said, his voice dripping with admiration. “There’s a lot of quarterbacks, they get hit, their eyes drop, they get flustered, they make bad decisions. Not him.”

In other words, he’s taking a hit. a lot of. Among FBS programs, only the Old Dominion has more sacks per game than the Buffs with 5.33. Whenever a hurricane approaches, Scheidel is almost always in the eye of the storm, always calm, buying time to analyze his way out of the disaster.

“He doesn’t have a lot of first-round picks in front of him,” Palmer said of the CU offensive line. “In fact, that’s probably the most impressive thing about him – his composure.”

Mind you, some Rams players also didn’t like the young Sanders talking trash before the showdown. Even though I’ve backed up to the end.

“I think every great player has a target on his back, doesn’t he, last time I checked,” Scheidel’s father, the University of Colorado, said when I asked him about protecting his (sometimes) favorite son. Coach Deion Sanders replied.

“But it really should challenge your offensive line to do their job, right? Because if you stop the quarterback, if you stop Travis Hunter, if you stop Xavier (Weaver), Jimmy ( Horn Jr.), if you stop these guys, you stop the offense.”

Though you also can’t shake the image of 6-foot-1 Mo Kamara, CSU’s little engine who can spin CU’s 6-10 tackle, Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan, crawling on all fours and then grabbing young Sanders for an ankle sack.

Starting Saturday, the first-round pick ahead of Sanders will wear the wrong color jersey for most of the next nine weeks. And wanted to roll him into a black and gold burrito.

“I have to be honest, when you’re the quarterback, you don’t have to say anything and all of a sudden the defense wants to hit you harder,” Palmer said with a laugh. “At night, they’re still going to hit him, whether you’re out showing off your watch or talking about Rolls-Royces. College kids don’t need a lot of bulletin board material to play hard.”